Submissions update

If my calculations are correct, I've received 23 rejections, and currently have 6 stories noodling through the ether of the submissions process. One of those has been out for a very long time to a market that has become unresponsive, so I'll chalk that one up as a non-response rejection: that makes 24 rejections, and 5 stories currently submitted. 

Here are my submission statistics by month:

May: 3 submissions, 1 rejection (1 form)

June: 4 submissions, 3 rejections (2 form, 1 personal)

July: 4 submissions, 5 rejections (3 form, 2 personal)

August: 6 submissions, 3 rejections (1 form, 2 personal)

September: 5 submissions, 7 rejections (4 form, 3 personal)

October: 6 submissions, 4 rejections (3 form, 1 personal)

These numbers are difficult to understand. But I can say that none of the stories I submitted in May, June or July are stories I submitted in August, September, or October; I've retired my early stories and am now submitting only more recent ones. 

Some markets habitually respond with a form letter, or respond with a personal note. So far I've only had one personal response from a market that is a habitual form responder (my one close call with publication). But the personal responses I've received recently have been of a higher quality, and have all included a note encouraging me to submit more. I call that progress!

One final note. I feel good about all the stories I currently have out. None of them are poorly written, all of them have interesting ideas, and at least a few of them have compelling stories with strong characters. I like my chances with them. And even if none of them get published, it only means I need to write more and better stories, which I believe I'm capable of. Onward!